Picture-book



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

v H. T. KOERNER.

PICTURE BOOK.

Patented Mar. 17,1896.

m W @m UJlTNEEEEE.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERMAN T. KOERNER, OF BUFFALO, NEIV YORK.

PICTURE-BOOK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of- Letters Patent No. 556,467, dated March 17, 1896.

Application filed February 28, 1895. Serial No- 539,9'79. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern-.-

Be it known that I, HERMAN T. KOERNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Picture-Books; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable" others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to certain improvem ents in picture-books for children, its object being to provide, in connection with the pictures of the book, for the grouping of separate letters to form words descriptive of the pictures, or for the grouping of separate objects or figures to complete the pictures illustrating a certain story or event.

To that end my invention consists of a book containing a series of pictures, the pages being provided adjacent to or within each pictu re with means for removably securin g blocks carrying groups of letters forming words descriptive of the separate pictures, or blocks having marked thereon separate objects or figures (or groups of the same) to complete the pictures illustrating a certain story or event.

It also consists in separate storage-pages provided with means for removably securing and holding the blocks having the letters, objects or figures when not in use, and in such blocks, with their specific fastening means.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front plan view of the storage-page for the upper-case letters. Fig. 1" is a horizontal section through the covers and storage-pages of the book. Fig. 2 is a front plan view of one of the picture-pages embodying my invention. Fig. 3 is a rear plan view of the picture-page shown in Fig. 2, partly broken away. Fig. 4: is a front plan view of the storage-page for the lower-case letters. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the front cover, partly broken away. Figs. (5 and 7 are views of the upper and lower case letters, and Fig. 8 is a front plan view of a page having printed thereon a picture completed by separate objects or figures removably secured thereto.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that I have preferred to construct and arran go my improved book as follows:

1 is the outside of the covers, preferably of cardboard or material thicker and stiffer than the'inside pages and intended to have printed thereon the title of the book, and 2 is the inside of the covers 1, formed of a sheet of flexible paper and secured along its opposite side edges to the covers 1. This inside sheet 2 is entirely loose from the cover except at its edges, where it is connected therewith, as by paste or cement, at 2, and it is provided with a series of horizontal slits This sheet 2 with its slits 3 forms What I term a storagepage for a complete alphabet of upper-case letters or capitals. These letters are printed or otherwise placed upon separate slips of paper of uniform size representing a'set of blocks in perspective, as shown at 4 in Figs. 1 and (5. I prefer this form as being the most attractive; but the block idea may be dispensed with or the letters cut in outline if desired. Each block has a projection 5, less than the width of its front face, extending downwardly from its lower edge, and adapted for removable insertion into one of the slits 3 in the sheet 2.

In this manner the entire alphabet of blocks may be stored upon its page, as shown in Fig. 1, until they are to be used.

The projections 5 extend down through the slits 3, as clearly shown in Fig. 5, and rest between the inner faces of the sheets 2 and the covers 1, which serve to keep them in proper position and prevent their falling over or out of the slits. As arranged in Fig. 1, the last six slits must hold two letters or blocks, in order to accommodate the entire alphabet, because this page has only twenty slits. In Fig. 4 I have shown the inner side, 6, of the back cover arranged in substantially the same manner, to serve as a storage-page for the lower-case letters. These are represented as placed upon smaller blocks 7, and are placed in position and removed in the same manner as the upper-case letters, each being provided with an extension 8, as shown in Fig. 7. The

intermediate leaves of the book are formed of double sheets connected at their edges, similar to the construction of the covers, as just described.

Figs. 2 and 3 represent one of such double leaves, in which 9 and 10 are the separate opposite sheets or pages of the leaf. Upon the page 9 I have shown three pictures representing an ark, a banjo, and a train of cars.

Adjacent to each picture is cut a number of slits 11-three in number for the ark, five in number for the banjo, and four in number for the cars. The letters or blocks 4 or 7 are to be removed from their storage-pages and their extensions placed in position in the slits 11 to form the words illustrated by the adjacent design, which on page 9 are the ark, the banjo, and the cars,the letters of the last wort cars being shown in position by way of illustration. In this manner the first three letters of the alphabetA, B, and Care provided for on the first inside page, the remaining letters being illustrated by words and appropriate accompanying designs on the succeeding pages forming the book.

It will be seen that my invention combines in one article an alphabet or picture book and a set of spelling-blocks occupying no more space than the book itself. It can be cheaply made, as the cutting of the letters or blocks and the slits can all be done with dies, and the designs for the letters and the pictures illustrating the words can be made as simple or elaborate as desired by the photolithographic process.

In Fig. 8 I have shown a modification of the idea illustrated in the preceding figures. This view shows the picture of a scene in the story of The House that Jack Built. The

in the picture.

and placed upon storage-pages provided for their reception in substantially the same manner as shown in Figs. 1 and 4:.

By varying the pictures and the positions of the figures the entire story can be illustrated in a very effective and amusing manner.

I claim- 1. A toy consisting of two sheets lying upon each other and connected at their edges, one sheet having a number of horizontal slits; in combination with a series of blocks cut from paper or the like, each having at its lower edge a projection narrower than the width of the body and adapted to pass into any of said slits, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A toy consisting of two sheets lying upon each other and connected at their edges, one sheet being marked with a picture and perforated at certain points with horizontal slits; in combination with a series of blocks cut from paper or the like, each having at one edge a projection narrower than the width of the body of the block and adapted to pass into any of said slits, the face of the blocks being provided with inscriptions relating to the picture on the sheet, as and for the purpose sci forth.

3. A toy consisting of a sheet marked with a picture and perforated with horizontal slits in a line adjacent such picture, the number of slits corresponding with the number of letters in the word descriptive of the picture; in combination with a series of blocks out from paper or the like and marked with the letters of the alphabet, each block having a projection of a size to pass through any of said slits, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HERMAN T. KOERNEN.

\Vitn esses:

V. T. MILLER, F. P. Rins'rnN. 

